Neuer's madness, Diaz's winner and Camavinga's controversial red card in Bayern's win

Ahead of the second leg of the Champions League against Bayern, Real Madrid fans and players had the club’s glorious past in mind. Many times did the Galacticos managed to come back from a nasty situations and come up with a win but not tonight. To be fair, Real lost the first game at Santiago Bernabeu 2-1 but didn’t play so bad and had numerous chances, which were saved by Manuel Neuer. But the Bayern’s savior nearly turned into an undertaker for his own team as the veteran keeper had a moment of madness after only 35 seconds of play and allowed one goal and then poorly reacted for the second one. All in all, Real took the lead three times tonight, but in the end lost the match 4-3 and will remain without a single trophy this season.

It was certainly the best match of the Champions League so far, with five goals in the first 45 minutes, numerous chances, and off course, controversy created by the referee Slavko Vinčić. The Slovenian referee gave a 'soft' second yellow card to Camavinga in the 86th minute and will be all over Spanish newspapers in the morning. Eight minutes later, Luis Diaz scored Bayern’s third goal, which meant that the home team are through. Munich was a better team again, but didn’t play so well and again allowed Real’s counter attacks. The scorer of the fourth goal and one of the best players Michael Olise was invisible until the 67th minute, while Neuer nearly ‘killed’ his own team. On the other side Real defended too much and didn’t use their chances when they had them. Kylian Mbappe was great again, Guler scored a brace but it was still not enough. Vinicius Jr. was subpar and allowed himself to be tamed by Dayot Upamecano. A better team from both games is going through, but they will have to play much better in order to eliminate PSG.

Rarely have we seen a better first half in the Champions League history. Five goals plus chances, two goalkeeper blunders and plenty of excitement. It all started in the 35th second of the game when Manuel Neuer totally misplaced his pass and gave the ball directly to Arda Guler who had a presence of mind to take an instant shot from 30 meters and hit an empty net for a shocking lead. But just five minutes later, another goalkeeper had his bad moment. After a corner from Kimmich, Real’s Lunin reacted terribly and allowed Pavlovic to head it from point blank range. But the scoring spree was far from over. Real again took the lead in the 29th minute. It as fantastic Arda Guler again. This was as well a joint ‘effort’ from both the Turkish midfielder and the German keeper. Guler took a fantastic free kick but the shot was savable. Unlucky for Bayern, Neuer was again bad, arriving late to meet the ball and it was 1-2. Kane was there again to save Bayern with a wonderful shot in the 38th minute as the home team took control of the game. But, in the 42nd minute came another shock. Vinicius, who was totally stopped by Upamecano got the ball and no less than three Bayern players surrounded him, allowing Mbappe to get into the penalty area all alone. It was as easy as it could possibly be and Real took the lead for the third time.

The Bavarians nearly equalized in the first minute of the second half, when Diaz’s shot took a deflection and whistled near the post. Real replied with even better chance, created by Bellingham and Mbappe but Neuer was positioned well and saved it. Until the 67th minute nothing really happened and then, after one hour of play, Michael Olise finally showed up with his first shot of the game, bu Lunin saved it. Upamecano’s header went just over the bar in the 74th minute as Bayern continued to attack while Real went into a total defending mode, with all 11 players on their side of the pitch. But Camavinga, who came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute got one yellow card in the 78nd and then another one after only eight minutes and suddenly, Real was left with 10 men. The second Camavinga yellow will be debated as it was unclear if he got it due to persistent fouling or for not giving the ball to Bayern players after a foul. In both cases it looked a bit harsh but referee Vincic was firm with his decision. Three minutes later it was all over as Diaz’s shot was slightly deflected by Militao, but enough to beat Lunin. In injury time, Olise scored for the final 4-3 and the Bavarians will face PSG in the semi-finals.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - QUARTER FINALS

Return leg

Tuesday

Atl. Madrid - Barcelona 1-2 (1-2)

/Lookman 31 - Yamal 4, Torres 24/

Atletico win 3-2 on aggregate

Liverpool - PSG 0-2 (0-0)

/Debele 72, 90+1/

PSG win 4-0 on aggregate

Wednesday

Arsenal - Sporting Lisbon (0-0)

Arsenal win 1-0 on aggregate

Bayern Munich - Real Madrid 4-3 (2-3)

/Pavlovic 6, Kane 38, Diaz 89, Olise 90+4 - Guler 1, 29, Mbappe 42/

Bayern Munich win 6-4 on aggregate